This is a result of the efforts of the much maligned Peter Gleick, who several months back conned Heartland out of some of their budget documents. And you know, I am all for measuring a person's contribution to the culture wars in strict $ terms. So I can fairly say that I have cost evil people $1,000s of Cdn $ for one reason or another. Mr. Gleick has single-handedly cost the Heartland Institute $15,000 directly and who knows how much more indirectly. Can any of those in the climate science community who have condemned him boast of doing more?

Correspondence from the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada‏

Thank you for your correspondence concerning the Government’s proposed amendments to strengthen the hate crimes provisions of the Criminal Code. I regret the delay in responding.

As you are aware, on September 30, 2011, Conservative Member of Parliament Mr. Brian Storseth introduced Private Member’s Bill C-304, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (protecting freedom), into the House of Commons. The Bill proposes to repeal section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which empowers the Canadian Human Rights Commission to deal with complaints regarding the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet.

Our government supports the repeal of section 13 as it has been found to be subjective and unnecessarily vague when it comes to informing Canadians about what can and cannot be said on the Internet. We firmly believe that the Criminal Code is the best vehicle for combating hate propaganda and we remain committed to the promotion and protection of free speech by all Canadians.

To that end, on February 14, 2012, the Government tabled in the House of Commons Bill C-30, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. Among other things, the Bill proposes to expand the definition of “identifiable group” for the crimes of inciting hatred in a public place likely to lead to a breach of the peace and the wilful promotion of hatred, which are found in section 319 of the Criminal Code. The criteria of national origin, age, sex, and mental or physical disability would be added to the current definition of “identifiable group” for these two offences. In addition, the criterion of national origin would be added to the definition of “identifiable group” for the offence of advocating or promoting genocide, contained in subsection 318(1) of the Criminal Code.

Thank you again for writing.Yours truly,The Honourable Rob Nicholson

If this is all they plan to do, some obvious problems:

1) The requirement that the AG must approve hate speech charges would appear to remain, which in practice means that such charges will be almost impossible to lay. There were rumors going about that this requirement might be removed, but apparently no such luck.

2) Any expansion of the criterion can trigger a legal challenge to the criminal code provisions, which might mean section 319 falls and the country's winds up being without any hate speech legislation.

3) The bill containing these new provisions is the infamous C-30, which the government appears to have already given up on.

Smug pricks like Paul Wells really don't understand what they are serving as the pathetic enablers of. It will be B.C., which has never really considered itself part of "The West", vs. Alberta--hippies, rural eccentrics and natives vs. loud-mouthed cowboys in gold-plated ten gallon hats. Wells thinks he can just sit this one out whilst snapping his fingers to shitty jazz music. He doesn't really understand that a federal government that says Canada when it really means Calgary is a threat to national unity.

One good thing, though, about the government's new position is that, depending on the timing, B.C. Lib Leader Christy Clark might get smoked out and have to reveal her real position re Northern Gateway. Before, the decision's timing was sure to land on the other side of the next provincial election. Now, who knows? I would love to see Ms. Clark run on the platform of despoiling B.C. for the benefit of Alberta.

Face à face is Stéphane Gendron's show. Gendron is a small time shock-jock best known for the fact that he can get elected mayor in rural Quebec while engaging in some pretty extreme tirades about folks he doesn't like, in particular Israeli folks.

This time, as far as I can tell, he's in trouble for an interview he did with Quebec student leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of CLASSE, a student union behind the recent anti-tuition hike protests in that province. Probably called Nadeau a hippy or something. In any case, the kids seem to be fighting back. Good on them.

The CBSC has traditionally recognized that hosts of public affairs programs are entitled to hold and express their opinions on the topics discussed during those programs, even when those opinions are controversial, unpopular or provocative. 1 While Clause 7 of the CAB Code of Ethics provides that broadcasters must present all sides of a public issue and treat all subjects of a controversial nature fairly as part of balanced programming, the CBSC has also recognized that broadcasters are not required to bring to light all the divergent views on such topics within a single program. 2

These opinions must, however, be founded on actual facts, and the host cannot base his or her opinion on unproven information. 3

Yet, host Ezra Levant maintained several times throughout the entire program that Arts Habitat offered free housing to artists, when it was in fact a provincially and municipally (Edmonton) subsidized housing/studio program that is offered to eligible artists who are required to pay rent. His guest mentioned on one occasion that the housing in question is “free”, but otherwise referred to it as “subsidized”.

After watching the program and examining all the related documents, the Panel adjudicators unanimously determined that Sun News did not breach the provisions of Clause 7 of the CAB Code of Ethics as both guest and host were entitled to question the relevancy of taxpayer subsidized programs for artists. The Panel did, however, also rule unanimously that Sun News Network and its host Ezra Levant violated Clause 6 of that Code because the opinion broadcast was based on an erroneous premise.

Ezra gets in so much trouble with this whole "truth telling" stuff that its hard to keep up. Here's my favorite bit from the decision:

On July 6, two days after the program at issue containing his assertions had aired, host Ezra Levant read an e-mail on the air that faulted him for not having verified the accuracy of his information, and pointed out, among other things, that the Arts Habitat program is a subsidized housing and studio program and not a free housing program. The host admitted his error, adding that his opinion remained unchanged with respect to public funding of subsidies for artists.

That's our Ezra; no matter what the facts are, his opinion doesn't change.

If they go to slaughter, Mr. Byron, I'll be happy to eat 'em. One of my favorite youthful memories is of chowing down on horse steaks in France. Very lean, very rare...you can almost hear them neigh. But if we must talk compromise, I would be OK if the McGuinty Libs just reduced the government handout to Ontario racetracks rather than killing them entirely. The rural types that depend on such government largess should be eased off their entitlements rather than being forced to go cold pony... I mean turkey. Bah Hah!

Actually, a number of Australian languages are also mathematically impoverished in the same fashion as Pirahã.

In any case, my point here is not the particulars of Everett's argument, but just that he seems to me to be one helluva guy. I argued philosophy of language with him via email some years back, and he was happy to share a few unpublished notes with me. For my part, I told him his view was quite Wittgensteinian and he should read the PI or Blue and Brown Books. I don't know if he ever did.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Attending NDP conventions isn't supposed to be my full time job. Rumour has it they're handing out sleeping bags and we're all supposed to sleep on the floor. Not happening. Mulclair will eventually win and give his speech to a convention center full of sleepy, disgruntled socialists sometime Sunday morning. He'll be up against Return of The Swamp Monster on the sci-fi Network, so he should kill in that time slot. I'm not sticking around for it.

Rumour is he'll be "conciliatory", and then tomorrow the purges begin.

Update: Yeah, its Mulclair. They just announced and are now playing victory theme. More drums.

The computers have crashed and the vote was going to be delayed! Then the announcement announcing the delay was delayed! Now they have successfully announced the delayed announcement! The delay is officially in effect, until 5:40 when things are supposed to get back on track. I'm getting flashbacks to the Democratic Convention of Chicago, '68.

The NDP official position is that its all a DOS attack. On the other hand, I suspect Kinsella peed on a server. But if he threatens to sue I will retract that statement.

And its as though the whole city has decided to join in the convention spirit. A chunk of glass fell from the Trump Tower and the cops have sealed off Bay & Adelaide. I think that's Stephen Taylor's fault. He's been lurking about the place something fierce. But, again, first time a lawyer calls this statement goes bye bye.

As for me, I'm waiting patiently for goddamn history to happen. Its happening awefully slow.

-- Total vote count went down. The rumoured B.C. surge (late waking B.C. voters casting on-line ballots) did NOT occur. LPoC should take note; on-line attendance will disappoint you.
--Peggy Nash drops out. Where does she go? Apparently she has released her people.
--Cullen didn't pick up much steam at all. He will not be the guy.
--Topp has a long way to go. Mulcair will probably grind this one out.

Mulclair comes in at the low end of predictipns;Topp exceeds expectations. Dewar drops out. Nash disappoints. Will she drop out? This may go a little longer than some folks thought. Also turnout about half expected.

Others have given a better sum up of yesterday's events than I could, so I won't bother. Beyond some erratic speechifying, the Dippers pulled off a pretty solid day 1.

However, while nothing is certain, there seems to be a distinct worry among NDP insiders that this thing could all end too quickly, without having generated a sufficient degree of drama and excitement. My understanding is that live tv coverage of the proceedings will not begin until 1:00 pm. Given that round one results will be available at 10, and that organizers think they can get things ready for the 2nd go-round in less than two hours, the contest has to run at least three votes if people at home are going to see the big wind-up in real time. There is a small but definite possibility that when the big media players swing their cameras towards the convention floor they find people mopping up and going home after an overwhelming Thomas Mulcair victory.

Friday, March 23, 2012

pSuddenly, the text started zipping up the screen then it stopped, wound back, and then started zipping by again. Peggy stumbled a bit, improvised re her collective bargaining victories, and the wind-up music kicked. Peggy was ill-served on this one. And the two municipal pols she brought in flubbed their lines.

My favorite so far is still Cullen, who went entirely lo tech; Mulcair wailed through his text too fast, but has a nice voice.

Update: it appears that Nash went off-script and the techie was scrolling back and forth to figure out where she was supposed to be. Finally, they brought in the music and killed her mic. And Mulcair's army of live drummers impeded his advance to the stage such that when he finally arrived he had burnt though half of his speech time.

Cullen was quite eloquent re Northern Gateway. Horwath got in a good line about Bob Rae knowing how to do what's right by Bob Rae. That got a roar out of some of the Libloggerspresent. Dewar's skillz, however, are truely inadequate.

Update: Dewar actually spoke in the end. His speech didn't impress me much but it made me notice how little french Cullen's presentation contained. Hmm. Wonder what this signifiies.

Another update: The soundtrack to Mulcair's video lead in is mostly white noise, something that sounds like a jack-hammer, and drums. It is starting to make me angry, which may be the point.

On my way to the convention center, a senior got on the bus in front of me with a couple of obsolete tokens. He told the driver that was all he had, and several other people on board offered to cover. Naturally, a standoff ensued, with the driver calling both TTC security and police. When my bus pulled up and a load of disgruntled passengers got aboard, two cop cars had blocked another lane of traffic. I think the senior got away clean.

Later, these passengers just WOULD NOT move back no matter how much the driver swore, although little old ladies were accommodated.

And so the TTC Staff vs passenger cold war continues apace. Why cant we all just get along? Anyway, things are taking off down on the convention floor. A welcoming prayer...

Sources tell me that Ottawa human rights lawyer Richard Warman has launched a defamation suit against Sun TV. His suit pertains to an episode of Michael Coren's The Arena on which fellow Sun TV employee Ezra Levant guested. I have also learned that Kathy Shaidle of Five Feet of Fury has been served as well; I believe this is for hosting the episode in question on her blog.

This may be history in the making. Unfortunately, George Soros abandoned his suit after Fox News North issued a grovelling apology, so this will almost certainly count as the first one to go forward against the struggling network.

Note: I should note that Soros actually threatened to sue the T.O. Sun for a column Ezra wrote; he did not sue Sun TV.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

3 Days Ago! And nobody has even noticed! Don't know how many can get to Mark Bourrie's Facebook page. But you should try and friend the guy. He's a media insider. He knows all sorts of deep shit. A cap of his Facebook post is here:

Note that this is in Alberta where they're struggling to find supporters. They are also, according to the article, "pushing hard" for memberships within B.C. and, presumably, finding even less than the 50 around Grande Prairie.

Kathryn will apparently still blog for the astro-turf group on an occasional, but I suspect after her famous on-air meltdown we won't be seeing her on tv as much. Alas, the world has become a little less blonde.

Got my confirming email yesterday, so that makes it official. I'll be blogging the NDP leadership convention this weekend. My prep work is almost complete, and I'm down to choosing which t-shirt to wear on day 2.

Any blogging I do will be relatively gentle and non-partisan--like a friendly anthropologist come to study the curious ways of some new tribe. I do, however, intend to investigate a story I have heard over and over re NDP conventions--that they don't really know how to par-TAY. That the wings in the hospitality suites are made from tofu; that you have to read at least five Marxist-Leninist tracts and pass a test at the end; and that its impossible to get laid.

I can't test this last thesis directly, as the wife would kill me. But if anyone manages to get lucky over the course of the weekend and can provide confirmatory trophies, please drop me an email.

Apparently nobody showed up for Ezra's Freedom Weekend. You can deduce this from the fact that when you google "Ezra Levant" and "Freedom Weekend" you get basically nothing. Not a single news story, blog-post, tweet, twit-pic...nothing. The gang at FreeD bowed out; the Shaidle's were busy waving placards in front of a mosque somewhere; Dr. Roy apparently went to the opera.
And if you watch some Sun TV clips on youtube these days you will find they can ramble on for 15 or 20 minutes without a single advertiser interrupting to to hawk their wares. Not Dr. Ho with his inserts, not the silver merchant that paints himself silver, not nobody. Maybe these guys decided they're too classy for Fox News North.

So, when there's no dough coming in, what do you do?

You try something that didn't work the first time.

Now, I'm willing to link to the Maple Leaf Dinner sign-up page because I know you won't sign-up. Either will anyone else. Pay a $1,000 to sit between Ezra and Adler? Sounds like a good evening to spend playing mini-golf with the guys from the office instead.

"If it works" is a big if. In my extremely limited experience of riding level politics, the further you go down in the party structure the bigger the divas get, clutching their tiny allotment of power close and closer. It wouldn't surprise me if the local riding associations reject this scheme en masse, preferring to fight the good fight under whatever party banner and lose rather than compromise and win.

No. A merger of parties has to be like a merger of companies. The lower-downs don't get a choice. Efficiencies have to be achieved and, unfortunately, people have to be fired or otherwise wrenched from their entitlements. Like Harper did with the Alliance and the Federal PCs.

Monday, March 19, 2012

I am not sure that Bob Rae, given his obvious political skills, couldn't transcend it with a good campaign performance. On the other hand, maybe not. Certainly, if there is anyone on offer in '13 without his baggage and even two-thirds of his charisma, then that person would be the better choice. Bob Rae if necessary, but not necessarily Bob Rae.

Speaking of charismatic politicians, Gerard Kennedy might attempt a come-back. He definitely has the hair to lead this nation to greatness. I remember, though, finding his last go round as leadership candidate a bit light on substance, and at the time his French was said to be weak. If Gerard up his game this time out, then maybe...

Sunday, March 18, 2012

While IANAL, some of the powers ascribed to these documents by people at the OLA--wave it in front of a government official trying to gain access to your property and he will apparently melt--seem downright bizarre. Furthermore, Lanark MPP Randy Hillier seems to have contacted a real lawyer, and as a result is now expressing doubt over this particular arrow in the OLA's strategy quiver:

The problem for TransCanada is that the environmental assessment done on the pipeline was pretty thorough. And it wasn't rocket science either. You simply tally up how many property owners will be effected, how many streams and other sensitive areas will be crossed, and so on. The route with the fewest number of trouble spots is by definition the safest from an environmental perspective And as I wrote previously:

For this explanation to work, it would mean that the database CIMS contained the correct phone-number of the non-supporter contacted, but still had their old Guelph address. In other words, the database was not annotated to show that the person had moved from Guelph since previously contacted--this particular field was not "maintained"--but it would contain an updated phone-number--this particular field was "maintained".

That seems unlikely.

Update: To put this a little more clearly, if the "non-supporters" end of CIMS had really been non-maintained, then robocalls employing that list would never have reached any riding outside of 519; calls would have gone to phone-numbers that were either no longer working or had been reassigned to someone else in the Guelph region.

Meanwhile, the same poll contains a few provincial numbers as well: pipe-line sitter Christy Clark stands at 31%; the Socialist hordes, who have declared against Northern Gateway, hold a commanding 45% of popular support; and the far-right pro-pollution Zalmbies languish at 14%.

Not bad. Sharp nose, pert little body. If it were human it would be blond and 5'2".

Now the Typhoon:

Now there's a machine that's truly well-hung with death toys. Eurofighter Typhoon is strong like Bull Moose! Bust your bunker, and your momma's bunker too. I know which one I want defending the Arctic.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Though not quite as definitive as WK seems to think. And Justin's particular suggestion-- a panicked attempt at merger in the runup to the 2015 election if the polls look crappy-- will not end well for anyone, let alone our poor nation. And I am also not yet convinced that the the LPoC can't reclaim enough of Ontario and Que. to form a government on its own.

That said, if Justin is softening to the idea he can convince others to as well. But the merger either has to get started AS SOON AS the LPoC has a new leader in place, or in the aftermath of 2015. The timing doesn't work otherwise (because the merger process will be protracted and miserable and everyone will hate one another for awhile).

Another good piece from PostMedia's Mike De Souza, who's up for a National Newspaper award this year for his coverage of the AGW Denialist movement in Canada. I just wish Mike had more competition. It always surprises me how much coverage climate change issues get in the U.S. and U.K. press as opposed to Canada. That's what happens, though, when the national government and too many of the nation's people are content to see themselves in the role of hewers of wood and bearers of bitumen.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Not sure who commissioned this one, but the Mustel Group has done similar work for Forest Ethics previously. So if its them that paid the piper take it into account, though I trust a poll from Forest Ethics quite a bit more than one from Enbridge.

PS. On a related matter, don't get too excited by Coyne's column from yesterday, mourning how the CPoC's has lost its principles. He's been writing the same piece for years now. They still let him into their events, which means that being reamed by Coyne, for a CPoC hardcore, is a bit like being spanked by your grandma. It doesn't hurt that much. It isn't meant to.

“This debate is about Canada’s economic sovereignty” stated Senator Smith. “The question we face is fundamental. Do we with natural resources that form 9.5% of our economy’s GDP, have the right to decide how we develop the riches our nation is blessed with,” questioned Senator Smith. “Or, are we willing to abdicate that right and grant it to those in other nations?”

“US foundations gave 1.5 million to David Suzuki’s group to produce a brochure called “Why You Shouldn’t Eat Farmed Salmon”. Is it a coincidence that Statistics Canada reported a 22.5 million dollar decline in BC salmon fishing revenue in 2009? Think this is just about the environment? Think again. This is about business. It is about promoting American business” stated Senator Smith.

The notion that a single pamphlet from Suzuki and co. could bring about a decline in the B.C. Salmon fishery is ridiculous on the face of it. However, the foundation decided that a response to Senator Smith was in order.

A lot of foaming and empty threats from the Senate, methinks,signalling their own frustration with the way the pipeline wars have been going lately rather than any serious attempt to change tax laws regarding Canadian environmental groups.

...as Tory MP Vellacott indicates, then this makes it more likely that Robocon was planned by someone close to the center of the party rather than via fringe players. It also contradicts the gov's last couple of days worth of talking points. Another interesting day in the HOC, I suspect.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

It was already common knowledge that the notion of Mike Sona's involvement in the Robocon affair was pushed by Conservative Party sources. This bit from Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher's latest makes clear the exact path by which the rumour was transmitted:

As for all those stories re the Canadian public not caring about the scandal, I would simply urge patience. Adscam surfaced in 2004. Nobody cared until about two weeks into the '06 election until, suddenly, they did. And its been a ball-and-chain around the LPoC's neck ever since.

So it is passing strange strange that B'nai Brith's Frank Dimant should have so vigorously defended Coren. Or rather, it isn't given who Dimant typically pals around with, but still it does him no credit that he should give Coren a pass on this stuff merely because he has defended Israel and bashed Muslims in the past.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

And as to WHY the brothers have decided to move now, well, I've heard several rumours. One is that an audit of the Institute's computers revealed a stash of pictures where the head of Ayn Rand had been photo-shopped onto the bodies of various naked celebs. Especially Ronald Reagan. Another is that the Koch's were unhappy with Cato's support of the Libertarian Island Concept. That's where Libertarians would buy a private island and govern it according to the principles of their political philosophy--ie. no laws, no restrictions on the ownership of fire-arms. So: an island full of heavily armed nerds and no police or women anywhere in sight. D'you remember that scene in Apocalypse Now where the army brings in Playboy Bunnys to entertain the troops and they dance around to CCR and the lads all go apeshit at the sight of undulating female flesh?

The same thing will happen on Libertarian Island first time Ann Coulter flies in to give a lecture. Naturally the Koch brothers want no part of that.

But if you let your resource extraction industries overwhelm your manufacturing sector, when the oil runs out you wind up with neither. And of course some things can be done about it, as this study suggests. But these things would involve Alberta giving over some of its oil money to the feds and when you raise that possibility the talk out in Calgary switches from pablum about the national interest to what the flag for an independent state should look like.

And have I ever mentioned the irony of a columnist at The Post, which has NEVER turned a profit since the day it launched, lecturing anyone about the rigours of Capitalism? That's like being given lessons in boating safety by the captain of The Titanic.

Friday, March 02, 2012

...the whole Robocon scandal is to sue the loudest MP in the HOC AND flip Stephen Taylor the legal docs on the down-low so as to blow your whole case out of the water if it ever DOES go to court. I mean, most judges really hate it when your real intent is to fight out your suit in the court of public opinion, and more particularly in the blogosphere. They're serious folk who don't like having their time wasted.

But of course the whole point is to get Pat Martin to shut up and instead what will happen reminds me of that old Jesus joke where Jesus walks into the inn carrying some nails and a hammer and asks the innkeeper to put him up for the night. Pat Martin will spend the next two years cranking this for all its worth and if I were the NDP I would fund his legal case to the last stand, just to get to discovery.

Somewhere in Harper's inner circle somebody is trying to figure out a way to disappear Matt Meier and RackNine. Or, if they think this latest tactic will put this whole thing to bed, then they really are crazy.

I would go even further and say that a fair number of Canadians have had direct contact with the Responsive Marketing Group, one of the phone spammers at the heart of the controversy. Check out the remarks on them at 800 notes. Lets just say that they are known and not well loved.